Estonia's Financial Supervision Authority considers appeal after court cuts Tuleva Fondid advertising fine from EUR 100,000 to EUR 17,500

Estonia's Financial Supervision Authority (Finantsinspektsioon) reported that Harju County Court upheld its finding that pension fund manager Tuleva Fondid AS committed serious breaches in how it advertised financial services, but reduced the misdemeanour fine from EUR 100,000 to EUR 17,500. Finantsinspektsioon is considering whether to appeal the reduction. The court reduced the fine because Tuleva Fondid AS had no prior criminal record and there were no grounds to think the firm would continue acting illegally. The breaches related to adverts published between 20 and 31 July 2023 that did not meet requirements under the Advertising Act and the Investment Funds Act, including missing mandatory prompts to review terms and consult an expert if needed, failure to state where the prospectus and basic fund information could be found, and advertising that appeared to guarantee fund performance or was misleading. Finantsinspektsioon noted the firm could have been fined up to EUR 400,000 in the case and that, after subsequent increases in financial-sector fine rates, similar conduct could now attract a fine of up to EUR 5 million. The Harju County Court decision can be appealed within 30 days of publication.